


HBD

by StAnni



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Post-Canon, Post-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-24 11:56:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16639613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StAnni/pseuds/StAnni
Summary: “I’m surprised you’re still here.  You never liked it here.”He didn’t.  But it was with Selina and it was not the Manor so that was enough.  And after she left, living any other place felt like cutting off a limb.“Moving isn’t an option.”  He says because it is all he can say.  And then, because he needs to know “Have you been in Gotham all this time, Selina?”





	HBD

On Bruce’s twenty seventh birthday, Selina comes back.   
To the day it has been four years and it takes every ounce of patience, resilience and pride that Bruce has left, not to allow his expression to change from shock to relief when he opens the door of his apartment to Selina’s guarded eyes.  
They stare at each other for what must be only a few seconds, but it feels like hours.   
“Front door?” he asks finally and she shrugs “Wasn’t sure you’d still be here.”

Bruce’s heart stutters at the sound of her voice after all this time. “I told you I’m not going back to the Manor.”  
Her eyes are careful, her voice quiet “This could have changed.”  
There is a beat of silence and he realises she has not made a move to come inside.  
“Do you want to come in?”  
She slips past him without an answer and he can smell pine as her curls brush his shoulder.

She gives the place a once over, but nothing much has changed since she left anyway, and her eyes fall on him. “How are you?”

He can’t answer that question and goes to the kitchen. “Do you want anything to drink?”

She follows him, a few feet behind and it is as if they are back, the two of them, years and years ago, playing house. “Just water.”

He pours her a glass of water as she watches and slides the glass over. She notices the graze that a bullet left on his forearm and he rolls down his sleeves in the most casual way that he can muster. To her credit she doesn’t ask but smiles at the coffee cups in the sink. “Alfred not here?” And Bruce shakes his head “Visiting family.”

She walks out of the kitchen, the heels of her boots clicking quietly on the tiles, and she stops in the living area.

“Do you have plans?” She asks, and it is almost innocent.   
He nods and puts his hands in his pockets – attempting not to be completely shaken by her unexplained presence “Later.”

She nods and sits down, shifting her jacket a bit, but not taking it off. She is not planning on staying long.

“I thought so.” 

Bruce sits down on the chair opposite hers and watches her quietly as she sips her water. “Like a party?” She continues and her eyes move from the glass to him, green as poison.

“Yeah, it’s a party.” He answers, his heart sinking with the thought now – having to go to that party now, after this. 

“Well, happy birthday, Bruce.” She says with a small smile and takes the last sip from the glass, putting it down without looking on the side table that is next to the chair. The side table she picked out. The side table she put there herself years ago.

“Thank you.” He doesn’t smile back, it would be impossible, but his voice is even, to his relief.

He wants to ask her how long she has been back, if she ever even left Gotham, why she is there. He doesn’t ask her any of those things.  
And she offers.

“I’m surprised you’re still here. You never liked it here.”  
He didn’t. But it was with Selina and it was not the Manor so that was enough. And after she left, living any other place felt like cutting off a limb.  
“Moving isn’t an option.” He says because it is all he can say. And then, because he needs to know “Have you been in Gotham all this time, Selina?”

It doesn’t sound accusatory but it does sound angry, and even if he is not angry – even if he is just heartbroken, the look on Selina’s face – slight surprise, regret – makes him press on “Four years.”

She looks away, her eyes shuttered “Yeah, I mean…I have wanted to come by before. Just today, today I could.” 

It is an honest answer, that much he can tell. She folds and unfolds and folds her hands, her tell. So he backs down, looks away from her and to the door. “Amelia will be here soon.”

He doesn’t want to see her face when he says it, but he can feel it, the icy glance up to him. It is true though, his girlfriend will be there soon and telling her that, just makes him feel a little better. And a little worse.

“Glad you guys worked out.”  
She says coldly and gets up. And he stands up too, fast, resolute.

“We’ve only been together for a year.” He says and she doesn’t believe him – that much is clear in the way that she nods before he can even finish the sentence, in the way she avoids his eyes, her own eyes glazed with vindication. 

Four years ago they stood in the same room, the same two places, they stood staring at each other – Amelia, back then, the subject between them, still.

“No, sure. Let me not keep you from your party.”

She goes to the door and he doesn’t follow. He knows that if she leaves this time, she is never coming back.

“Why did you come here, Selina? To apologise?” It’s a dangerous move. He knows.   
But it works and she turns back to him – her eyes, angry. “Why? You got what you wanted.” 

It is unfair, and it is a lie, so much so that he can’t help himself, narrowing his eyes he takes a step towards her, biting back. “Maybe I’m better off, but it’s not what I wanted.” 

It lands and she doesn’t hesitate to retaliate, proverbial claws out “Still prowling around at night like a stalker? Oh you’re so much better off, Bruce. That Amelia is so effective.” 

Four years ago they were able to decimate a relationship that they fostered since they were children in a matter of seconds. It was brutal and cathartic and eviscerating and Bruce can feel the same familiar wave of anger threatening to crest and he takes a step back, breathes. Selina watches him, not so easily subdued – probably already resigned with the knowledge that what they have, they can never rebuild.

“Thanks for stopping by.” He says as he stills his heart, forces it down, back, away, forever.

Selina doesn’t answer, she looks away and he already misses her eyes so much so that the ache that fills his mind, fills his body and he walks over to his whiskey stand.

“Many more, Bruce.”

He hears the door close behind him as he stills himself against the stand, pours the first glass.


End file.
